AirAsia declares bumper dividend

Flying high: An AirAsia airplane is parked at KLIA 2. The company’s net profit for its third quarter rose to RM915.88mil from RM505.33mil, mainly from a one-off gain on the sale of Expedia and the reversal of deferred tax liabilities arising from the disposals of aircraft.

PETALING JAYA: Low-cost carrier AirAsia Group Bhd has declared a bumper special dividend of 40 sen a share as its net profit soared 81.2% in the third quarter ended Sept 30, burnished by the proceeds from the sale of a unit to Expedia Inc.

The special dividend will go ex on Dec 12 and AirAsia had announced the disposal of its leasing unit, Asia Aviation Capital Ltd, to BBAM Ltd Partnership for US$1.18bil (RM4.619bil). At that point, analysts were speculating a windfall for shareholders in the region of 60 sen to 70 sen a share.